NEED TO KNOW
Christopher Meloni addressed the long-standing “will-they-won’t they” dynamic between his character Elliot Stabler and Mariska Hargitay’s Captain Olivia Benson
Meloni left Law and Order: Special Victims Unit in 2011, but returned for its spinoff Organized Crime in 2021
In a post on X on July 28, Meloni said he was “f—— trying” to get the beloved characters to kiss already after much build-up and teasing through the years
Christopher Meloni is doing what he can to ensure Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson finally end up together!
The actor made it clear that he knows fans want his Law and Order: Special Victims Unit character and Mariska Hargitay’s Captain Olivia Benson to have an onscreen romance — and is doing his part to make it happen — in a social media post on Monday, July 28.
After a fan sent a post to him on X and wrote, “@Chris_Meloni for f— sake, kiss her already!” Meloni, 64, quipped back, “I’m f—— trying.”
The post was met with over 23,000 likes from fans of SVU and his spinoff series, Law & Order: Organized Crime, who have longed for their beloved characters to kiss for years.
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Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni on ‘Law and Order: Special Victims Unit’ circa 2001
Meloni and Hargitay began costarring in Law & Order: SVU in 1999, and Meloni departed the show in 2011.
He later rejoined the SVU world in Law & Order: Organized Crime in 2021. With 26 seasons of SVU and five seasons of Organized Crime, there have been several crossover episodes for the former police partners to tackle hard cases together.
Upon Meloni’s 2021 return, it was revealed that the pair of characters had stayed loyal friends over the decades, and, at one point, even came close to a romantic relationship. The will-they-won’t-they dynamic has remained a through line of the long-running series, bringing a personal element to the crime show.
In a June episode of Alex Cooper’s podcast Call Her Daddy, Hargitay, 61, teased, “Maybe on the last episode. I think that’s when they should be together… if it’s right. We’ll see when we get there.”
Hargitay added that she feels the Manhattan officers are “soulmates, in a way.”
Virginia Sherwood/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson and Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler
In season 24 of SVU, fans got close to what they’ve been hoping to see when Benson and Stabler almost shared a kiss.
“We were attempting something,” Meloni said of the moment in April during a TVLine Spotlight conversation. “I don’t think it worked. But I’m not going to tell you why it didn’t work, because you all have your opinion.”
He added, “I know what transpired.”
https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cuf
Meloni also noted, “I don’t go, ‘That’s what’s going to go on TV. That’s what we’re going to air.’ We don’t have that power. We do the best we can to be honest with the scenes we’re given.”
Peter Kramer/NBC via Getty
Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson and Christopher Meloni as Det. Elliot Stabler
Hargitay previously alluded that she, too, hopes for the fictional couple to get together.
“To be honest with you, Chris and I thought it should go one way and the powers that be didn’t, so it got changed at the last minute, that near kiss,” she revealed to Variety in May 2024. “Obviously [creator] Dick [Wolf] gets final say. It’s his show and he didn’t want that.”
Hargitay also revealed how Benson actually feels about Stabler during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show in January 2022.
“The energy’s there. Olivia’s been in love with him for many a year,” Hargitay said at the time. “And I think that we are slowly finding our way back to it, but I want to give him the amount of time he needs to grieve Kathy Stabler.”
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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Organized Crime can be streamed on Peacock.
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